Hair fastener



March 29, 1949. L. PERENY 2,465,746

HAIR FASTENER Filed Dec. 2, 1946 INVENTOR.

, 6%., ELL BY ATTORNE Y5 Patented Mar. 29, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HAIR FASTENER Louis Pereny, Dayton, Ohio Application December 2, 1946, Serial No. 713,527

1 Claim.

This invention relates to hair fasteners and is concerned particularly with hair fasteners of the type popularly known as bobby pins.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a simple and inexpensive hair fastener of the bobby pin type which can be held and conveniently spread open with the fingers of one hand preparatory to placement of the pin in the hair and without the necessity of grasping the pin with both hands, or with the teeth and one hand, or resorting to other such inconvenient and unsanitary expedients.

Another object of th invention is to provide such a hair fastener economically formed from a single piece of material in such manner as to be readily spread open by one-handed manipulation without the necessity of including in the pin structure auxiliary elements for spreading the legs.

It is also an object of th invention to provide a bobby pin which may be manipulated with one hand and yet may be readily placed in the hair with minimum pulling thereof and which will be no more visible than ordinary bobby pins.

The manner in which these and other objects of the invention are attained will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claim.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hair fastener embodying the present invention in a preferred form;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the fastener of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view illustrating the manner in which the fastener may be grasped and spread apart with the fingers of one hand.

A hair fastener embodying the invention in a preferred form, as illustrated in the drawings, comprises a single element of spring steel wire, or other suitable resilient strip material, bent or folded upon itself to provide a pair of Opposed and generally parallel legs l and H meeting at one end in a loop I2 which yieldably urges the legs toward each other and into contact through at least a portion of their length as in the customary bobby pin.

The two legs are formed with unequal lengths so that the free end I of the leg in, for example, is disposed out of alignment and a substantial distance inward from the free end l5 of the other leg ll, thereby leaving a substantial length of the leg H exposed adjacent the free end 15.

2 The end portion of the shorter leg Ill may be bent outward somewhat, as shown in the drawing, and the extremities of both legs may be rounded, as is also shown in the drawing, to facilitate placement of the fastener in the hair.

In accordance with the present invention, one of the legs, which preferably should be the shorter leg III, is provided with a locally widened portion 16 which extends laterally outward on each side of the leg in directly opposed regions thereof as illustrated. The widened portion I6 desirably should have opposed and generally parallel lateral extremities I'I-l'| of a length of the same order as thewidth of the individual digits of a human hand so that the edge extremities of the widened portion may be grasped readily and conveniently between the thumb and second finger of a hand in the manner shown in Fig. 3. The widened portion l6 should extend outward on each side at least a suflicient distance to enable the extremities I'l-l'l of said portion to be grasped in the manner indicated without having the digits grasp the other leg H therebetween, thereby leaving the leg I l free for relative movement with respect to the leg l0 and the digits grasping the widened portion 16. Greater width is not prohibited but tends to increase visibility of the pin without assisting materially in its manipulation. Also, the widened portion I6 is disposed at such distance from the free ends of the legs as to enable the operator with convenience to press the first finger of the same hand against the exposed free end l5 of the longer leg H when the widened portion is grasped in the manner above described. When the pin is grasped and held in this manner, the two legs may be readily spread apart by movement of the first finger with respect to the thumb and second finger in the manner indicated in Fig. 3, the pin meanwhile being stabilized by the third or, if more convenient and natural, the fourth or little finger pressing against the legs of the pin at a point between the widened portion and the loop as shown.

After the legs of the pin have been spread apart in the manner described, they may be held in the usual way and readily placed in the hair, thereby dispensing entirely with the necessity of grasping and holding the pin with two hands, or with one hand and the teeth, or resorting to any of the other inconvenient and unsanitary expedients which have been common heretofore.

As has been indicated, the widened portion I6 is disposed a substantial distance inward from the free ends of the legs l0 and H in accordance with minimum pulling of the hair. Furthermore,

not withstanding the widened portion IS, the present pin is not objectionably visible when, placed in the hair since the free ends mostolikely to be seen are of reduced width as shown; The" widened portion l6 desirablyfishould be mad'ef sufliciently long to accommodate hands of vary:

ing sizes in a ready and convenient manner with out the necessity of straining the digits from a natural'=' position in order to gra'sp the pines 6.8-- scribed with the first finger' engaging the free end of' the longer'leg while-the thumb and second" finger grasp the-margins of the widened portion:

Greater lengthste'nd 'to increase the visibility of' 'the 'pin without'particularly improving ease of-opening thelegs;

One or, if desired, both of the legs may be criinped through a substantial portion of the length'thereofto assistinholding the pin in.p1ace in-the hair InLthe-presentinvention, the shorter leg; I llipreferably is crimped and the: widened portion lfi' also maybe crimpedin accordancewith the pattern followed inadjacent: portions of 'the legl-x Such l'crimping provides sinuous margins at" the lateral extremities l I l which may i be grasped f more firmly between i the thumb and second finger for holding the pin more rigidly. in' desired position;

While the-produet herein described 'constit'utes apreferred embodiment of I the invention, it: is to=be understood that-the -inventio'n i's not limited. to' this precise product; and that "changes: may be-made' therein without departing from the scope emu-e "invention 'whi'cl'i' is defi'ned in the ap pended claim;-

What is claimed is:

A hair fastener of the bobby pin type adapted to be spread open by one-handed manipulation and comprising a loop, a pair of legs of equal width and unequal length extending from said loop in opposed relationship, said loop yieldably urging said legs into contact with each other, the shorter leg having a laterally widened portioneextending on both sides of the leg and terminating inwardfrom the "free end of the leg, said widened portion having opposed and generally parallel lateral extremities of a length of the same order as the width of the individual digitsaot the human hand so that said extremities may be conveniently grasped and held between thethumb" and second finger of a hand, said widenedportionbei-ng positioned inward from the free end of said legs for such distance as to enable-the free end of the longer leg to be engaged by the first finger when the said widened portion is grasped: in the manner described between i the thumb and second'finger ofthe same hand, said;

widened portionuterminating inward from the said loop for such distance asv to enable another finger ofithezsame handrto press against portions oaths legs between. theloop and the widened portion for stabilizing the'iastener.

LOUIS PERENY.

REFERENCES CITED.

The following references. are of' record in the file *of'fthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Goldberg Oct. 22, 1929 Snyder Sept. 21, 1937 Number Yourek May 28, 1940 Reynolds 12, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country N umber Date Veitch Jan. 25, 1938' Great Britain 1912 

